Important information

This site uses cookies to store information on your computer. By continuing to use our site, you consent to Steel Media's
privacy policy.

Steel Media websites use two types of cookie: (1) those that enable the site to function and perform as required; and (2) analytical cookies which anonymously track visitors only while using the site. If you are not happy with this use of these cookies please review our Privacy Policy to learn how they can be disabled. By disabling cookies some features of the site will not work.

CONS

VERDICT

Though some may relish the challenge Crowman & Wolfboy offers, you'll likely find yourself yearning to dash though a brighter, more interesting world than this one.

Full Review

App Store Info

Crowman & Wolfboy, the latest silhouette-styled auto-runner to appear on the App Store, is all about teamwork. Rather than guiding a single character through the game's bleak, apocalyptic landscape, you take control of two simultaneously. The eponymous pair of beastmen jog through each perilous platform-filled level in tandem, with both creatures bringing their own special skill to the table. The crow can help the jump higher by grabbing the wolfman's shoulders and using his wing to propel the pair upwards. The wolfman, meanwhile, uses his claws to grapple on ledges and scramble up vertical surfaces.

For a game engineered around running, Crowman & Wolfboy appears to be in no hurry. The characters jog at a fairly sedate pace, something which is understandable considering the maneuvers you have to carry out. Rather than tap virtual buttons, you use gestures to make the critters jump, dash, slide, and switch direction. These controls are fine for simple jumps and attacks, but when you have to jump, turn in mid-air, land, and then immediately dash through an obstacle, things can get a bit fiddly and unreliable.

To keep the pursuing cloud of darkness from nipping at your heels, you must collect small orbs of light. However, as the obstacles become more mobile and deadly, you'll find timing the perfect jump to reach that next platform more and more tricky.

Games like League of Evil revel in their difficulty, smacking you down without hesitation and daring you to try again. However, when Crowman & Wolfboy gets tough, our deaths sometimes felt a little cheap, all to often the result of an improperly recognised gesture. Also, though it tries to emulate the monochromatic beauty of Limbo, the abandoned forests and cities of Crowman & Wolfboy are bland and underwhelming, robbing us of the desire to explore the levels to save creatures and collect artifacts.

Though its by no means broken, Crowman & Wolfboy is a forgettable entry in the auto-runner genre. The duel character idea is nice, but given that they act as a single character in practical terms, it's little more than a visual novelty. Some may relish the challenge the game has to offer, but others may find themselves yearning to dash through brighter, more exciting worlds than this one.

--- INCREDIBLE ADVENTURE ---
Crowman & Wolfboy are an unlikely pair of shadow creatures on a bizarre journey to escape their own nature and find the mysterious "humans". Help them flee the planet of shadows and the life-devouring Darkness following their every step. Will the path to “humans” lead Crowman & Wolfboy to happiness? Will they ever escape the persistent Darkness? Could a real life crow lift a real life wolf over pits of mutant garbage cans? ...What?!

--- TIPS ---
• Play with headphones on for best experience
• Revisit levels with new abilities to find hidden items
• Flicks are short, Swipes are longer...don't be lazy
• The shadow world is a dangerous place. Try not to die ;)

What's New in Version 1.4

Think you've escaped the darkness?
New Environment
More Babies to Rescue
New Levels
Improved Animations
New Obstacles and Enemies
More Souvenirs